Using the traditional Tibetan Buddhist framework of the Four Reminders--the preciousness of human birth, the truth of impermanence, the reality of suffering, and the inescapability of karma-- Khandro Rinpoche explains why and how we could all better use this short life to pursue a spiritual path and make the world a better place. She says, "Think of all the time you've wasted hesitating or feeling distracted, or expending useless energy feeling jealous or angry, or being selfish. At the time of death, you'll look back and it will all seem like a dream."

The book includes contemplative exercises that encourage us to appreciate the tremendous potential of the human body and mind. They focus on how we can learn to see this life as a gift and how, by achieving peace in our own lives, we can bring a seed of happiness to other people.

Although raised in Asia, Khandro Rinpoche is well-versed in Western culture, which allows her to translate Tibetan Buddhist wisdom to Westerners with remarkable authenticity and immediacy. She is also one the most highly trained living Tibetan masters and has been teaching in the United States and Europe for over fifteen years, during which time she has attracted thousands of students. She brings a unique feminine perspective to the wisdom tradition of Tibetan Buddhism.

This Precious Life: Tibetan Buddhist Teachings on the Path to Enlightenment, Khandro Rinpoche, Shambhala Publications, Paperback, 190 pp, $22.95

Born in India in 1967, Khandro Rinpoche is the daughter of Tibetan meditation master His Holiness Mindrolling Trichen and is herself a renowned teacher in the Kagyu and Nyingma lineages of Tibetan Buddhism. She is the head of a Tibetan Buddhist nunnery in India and divides her time between teaching in the West, running the nunnery, and supporting charity projects for Tibetan refugees in India.

CONTENTS: This Precious Life
	Foreword by His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama	ix
	Acknowledgments	x
	Editor's Preface	xi
	Supplication	xiii
	The Four Reminders	xv
	Introduction: Approaching the Gateway	1
Part One FIRST THOUGHT: THE PRECIOUSNESS OF A HUMAN BIRTH
1.	Irreversible Confidence	23
2.	The Eighteen Qualities of a Precious Human Existence	26
3.	The Eight Freedoms	28
4.	The Ten Endowments	34
5.	A Human Birth, So Difficult to Obtain	43
Part Two SECOND THOUGHT: IMPERMANENCE
6.	The Great Impermanence of Death	49
7.	The Wisdom of Discernment	54
8.	Training in Awareness	58
Part Three THE THIRD THOUGHT: THE SUFFERING OF THE SIX REALMS
9.	The Six Realms of Existence and Karma	65
10.	The Three Lower Realms	69
11.	The Three Higher Realms	84
12.	The Six Realms: Not Solid--and Not to Be Taken Lightly	89
Part Four FOURTH THOUGHT: KARMA
13.	The Law of Karma	95
14.	Creating Positive and Negative Karma	98
15.	The Ten Unvirtuous Actions	100
16.	The Fruition of Negative Karma	106
17.	The Ten Virtuous Actions and the Fruition of Positive Karma	109
18.	Karma and Reincarnation	113
19.	Purification of Body, Speech, and Mind	115
20.	The Fruition of Contemplating the Four Reminders	117
21.	Selflessness in the Beginning, Middle, and End	121
Part Five REFUGE
Entering the Gateway		127
Concluding Dedication		167
Appendix A: The Practice of Meditation		169
Appendix B: Resources for Further Practice and Study		174
	Bibliography	175
	Glossary	177
	Editor's Acknowledgments	182
	Index	183